Principles for the Networked World
Introduction
In 1993, a group of librarians met in Washington, DC, to discuss the Internet's potential impact on libraries. Their goal was to prepare a statement of principles to guide libraries in what was already shaping up to be a major policy reassessment in telecommunication and information policy. Printed in draft form, the principles were never fully adopted by ALA. Nevertheless, the draft version proved to be a helpful resource for library policy advocacy.
Possibly the most important and farsighted contribution of that draft statement was the overall message it carried -- that libraries have a huge stake in helping shape the ongoing digital revolution and that their voices should be heard in a wide range of policy debates.
In 2001, ALA's OITP Advisory Committee and Committee on Legislation decided that it was time to revisit and possibly rewrite the principles. After all, eight years is an eternity in digital time. The Internet had grown by orders of magnitude in size and capability in that time. Nearly all libraries now provide their users with access to the Internet (compared to an estimated 10 percent of libraries in 1993). Indeed, major policy fights have erupted and, as we expected, libraries are in the middle of them all.
In April 2001, 40 representatives of the library community met to identify key telecommunication and information policy issues that impact the networked world and to draft new statements of library principles to update the Principles of the National Information Infrastructure published in 1993. The work of this group was subsequently reviewed widely by the library community and endorsed by ALA Council.
Principles for the Networked World illustrates the key role libraries play in shaping the ongoing digital revolution and identifies the policies required to play those roles. They should be used to identify library concerns in information policy deliberations and legislative debate.
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